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The White House has defended its decision not to directly sanction Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as criticism mounted before Washington unveiled a new policy toward Riyadh on Monday.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki defended the move not targeting the crown prince in an interview Sunday, despite human rights groups and some high-ranking Democrats expressing dismay that the administration had targeted him. found guilty, publishing an intelligence assessment that had approved Khashoggi’s murder, without holding him responsible.
“We believe that there [are] more effective ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again and also to be able to make room to work with the Saudis in areas where there is mutual agreement, where there are national interests for the United States. This is what diplomacy looks like, ”Psaki told CNN.
Joe Biden was vague in describing what would be announced on Monday, saying only that the overall approach to Saudi Arabia would be “significant” and would make it clear that “the rules are changing.”
“We will hold them accountable for human rights abuses,” Biden told Univision, saying he had warned King Salman about the announcement in a telephone conversation on Friday.
The White House has said it sees the 85-year-old king as Biden’s counterpart rather than the 35-year-old crown prince, who is in control of day-to-day politics.
CNN quoted two unidentified administration officials as saying that sanctioning the prince had not been an option as it would have endangered the US presence in Saudi Arabia, where it has five bases. Consequently, the State Department was not even asked to present options for sanctioning Prince Mohammed.
With the release on Friday of an unclassified version of the US intelligence assessment of Khashoggi’s assassination in 2018, the Biden administration said it was imposing visa restrictions on 76 Saudis involved in the killing and intimidation of critics. Saudis in the United States, under a new measure called Khashoggi Ban. It was not made explicit that the prince was not on the 76 list, but Psaki’s comments on Sunday seemed to rule that out.
The Biden administration has announced an end to US military support for the Saudi-led air war in Yemen, but has said it will continue to supply defensive weapons to the kingdom. It is not yet clear how it will define offensive and defensive weapons and which arms sales will stop.
Biden’s measures on Saudi Arabia so far have not been enough to satisfy the main members of his party. Senator Mark Warner, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: “I think they should keep open additional sanctions against MBS [the crown prince] if we don’t see a change in behavior. “
“I applaud the Biden administration for releasing this long overdue unclassified report,” said Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee. “However, given the report’s findings on the direct role of Mohammed bin Salman, I look forward to further steps towards accountability.”
Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority issued a statement Sunday rejecting the US intelligence assessment as “false and unacceptable” and commentators in state-backed media denounced what they described as a threat to Saudi sovereignty.
“We want to strengthen deep-rooted ties [with the US] but not at the cost of our sovereignty. Our judiciary and our decisions are a red line, ”wrote Fahim al-Hamid in the Okaz newspaper.
